Archaeological Anthropology Commons^™

Archaeological Prospecting Using Historic Aerial Imagery: Investigations In Northeast And Southwest Arkansas, Emily Jean Bitely

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research investigates the potential of historic aerial photographs as a tool for archaeological site prospecting. Craighead and Mississippi Counties in northeast Arkansas and areas adjacent to the Red and Little Rivers in southwest Arkansas were chosen as study areas. These regions have undergone significant changes in the past few decades and were expected to yield visible types of archaeological sites. Historic aerial images of these areas were obtained through the U.S. Geological Survey's EarthExplorer database (http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/). These images were processed using Agisoft PhotoScan Professional to produce extensive regional orthoimages.

Using the Arkansas Archeological Survey's Automated Management of Archeological Site …

Battle Mound: Exploring Space, Place, And History Of A Red River Caddo Community In Southwest Arkansas, Duncan Mckinnon

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research is a synthesis of archaeogeophysical and archaeohistorical data collected from the Battle Mound site (3LA1). Using these data, this research seeks to understand how the site is organized in terms of architectural variability and how differential use areas, such as domestic or community space, can be compared to ethnographic and archaeological data concerning Caddo community structure and landscape use. The research is formulated around three research questions related to spatial organization and settlement patterning, intrasite behavioral practices, and Caddo culture history. Results show that an examination at multiple scales of resolution can inform about the spatial organization and …

Care And Feeding: An Exploration Of How Archaeology Site Stewardship Program Volunteers And Managers Define Priorities, Britt Mcnamara

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

State and federal agencies increasingly rely on site stewardship programs to protect archaeological resources, and site stewardship programs rely on volunteers to do this work. Given the importance of volunteers to site stewardship programs, especially in the wake of budget cuts and “sequesters,” this paper asks: how do managers and volunteers define site stewardship program priorities and how do differences in their opinions impact program success? In this paper, I briefly review the literature on site stewardship programs and volunteerism and present the results of my exploratory ethnographic research on this question. I close with a discussion about how differing …

A Comparative Analysis Of Paleoindian And Terminal Archaic Lithic Assemblages From Southeastern Connecticut To Determine Diagnostic Debitage Attributes, Colleen Mcalister

Honors Scholar Theses

The Paleoindian and Terminal Archaic periods can be differentiated on the basis of projectile point typology. This study was conducted to determine whether these two stone tool production periods could also be distinguished based solely on debitage, or the by-products of stone tool production. Goals included accurately analyzing and classifying stone tool flakes from an Early Paleoindian site, a Late Paleoindian site, and two Terminal Archaic sites, based on morphology, material, and possible geographical sources. The methods used here will help future researchers to classify sites as Paleoindian or Terminal Archaic in the initial site exploration phase.

Bird Bone Taphonomy In The Tse-Whit-Zen Site, Marielle Lara Orff

Senior Honors Projects

Tse-whit-zen is a large well preserved archaeological site that was discovered in August 2003 in the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. By 2004 an archaeological dig crew was working tirelessly on the site, which turned out to be one of the largest Native American villages ever found in the Pacific Northwest. This village was shown to have been inhabited by the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe, whose descendants still continue to live in the region. The site was occupied for thousands of years, with the oldest material dated at 2,700 years ago and the youngest at 100 years ago when the …

Breckenridge Shelter Geoarchaeology, Trevor John Seekamp

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My graduate research mainly focuses on Breckenridge Shelter (3CR002), Carroll County, Arkansas. As a geoarchaeologist, my concerns are geomorphological and geological processes affecting the shelter and surrounding hill slope. Breckenridge is one of several similar, Pine Hollow bluff shelters, about Beaver Lake, an impoundment of the White River, in northwest Arkansas.

Considering Kranzhügeln: An Exploration Into The Structural Variation And Environmental/Spatial Distribution Of The Third Millennium "Kranzhügel" Sites, Elise Jakoby

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

First named by von Oppenheim over a century ago, the distinctive third millennium BC kranzhügeln, or "wreath-mound," sites of the Syrian Desert remain a poorly understood phenomenon. While archaeological investigations have been undertaken at a handful of kranzhügel-like sites including Tell Chuera, Tell al-Rawda, and Tell Beydar, the overall number, geographic distribution, and morphological variation of so-called "kranzhügel" sites remains largely unexplored.

1960s-era CORONA satellite imagery available through the CORONA Atlas Project (http://corona.cast.uark.edu/) now enables more systematic documentation of the kranzhügel sites and the production site-scale visual and quantitative analysis. Analysis of kranzhügel distribution and morphology …

Late Prehistoric Technology, Quartzite Procurement, And Land Use In The Upper Gunnison Basin, Colorado: View From Site 5gn1.2, Jonathan Mitchell Peart

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis presents the results from archaeological test excavations at site 5GN1.2. The focus of this research is to evaluate Stiger’s Late Prehistoric settlement-subsistence hypothesis. According to Stiger, post-3000 B.P. occupations of the Upper Gunnison Basin were limited to big-game hunting forays originating from base camps located outside of the basin. Test excavations at 5GN1.2 documented archaeological deposits reflecting aboriginal occupation during the Late Prehistoric between about 3000 and 1300 years ago. Archaeological features include four hearths associated with abundant small-mammal remains, burnt plant seeds, stone tools and stone tool manufacturing debris.

Archaeological evidence rules out site 5GN1.2 as a …

Re-Examining Late Chalcolithic Cultural Collapse In South-East Europe, Harvey Benjamin Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research into the Balkan Chalcolithic often overlooks the dramatic changes in society that occurred beginning in the late Fifth Millennium BCE. Most settlements were abandoned along with changes in mortuary customs, ceramic and decorative traditions, domestic rituals, crafts, housing styles, mining, and metallurgy. These changes happened at a time when these Chalcolithic societies seemed to be at their peak. Theories as to what caused these changes include migrations/invasions, anthropogenic environmental degradation, gradual internal changes through innovation and outside contacts, and climate change. This thesis attempts to synthesize, and critique material relating to this topic, and ultimately provide my own opinions …

"An Ample Provision For Our Posterity": Transportation, Ceramic Diversity, And Trade In Historic Arkansas, 1800-1930, Katherine Rose Cleek

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation I present a method to study transportation using ceramic diversity and access to transportation infrastructure. Ceramic tableware richness, or the number of types present, is analyzed over time as a proxy for access to local transportation infrastructure at seven sites in Arkansas, dating from approximately 1800 to 1930. Previous efforts to look at trade in historical archaeology including Adams (1976), Riordan and Adams (1985), and Adams, Bowers, and Mills (2001) have not thoroughly assessed transportation as a means of trade. This dissertation looks at the many ways of assessing diversity in archaeology, biology, business, and economics, as …

Agricultural Production And Stability Of Settlement Systems In Upper Mesopotamia During The Early Bronze Age (Third Millennium Bce), Tuna Kalayci

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the relationship between rainfall variation and rain-fed agricultural production in Upper Mesopotamia with a specific focus on Early Bronze Age urban settlements. In return, the variation in production is used to explore stability of urban settlement systems. The organization of the flow of agricultural goods is the key to sustaining the total settlement system.

The vulnerability of a settlement system increases due to the increased demand for more output from agricultural lands. This demand is the key for the success of urbanization project. However, without estimating how many foodstuffs were available at the end of a production …

The Impacts Of Colonial And Environmental Processes On Ceramic Plainware At Salinas Province, New Mexico, Lindsey Elizabeth Daub

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis investigates whether Spanish demands on native time, labor and diet resulted in changes to the plainware ceramics used by the Salinas Pueblo Indians of New Mexico from the early 1600s to the 1670s. Increased pressures on native women's time may have resulted in a decline in the quality of the ceramic pastes, an increase in the presence of mend holes, changes in household size and composition that may have resulted in changes in the sizes of cooking vessels, and a decrease in food availability that may have resulted in decreased sizes or quantities of storage jars. While the …

Chronologies Of Pain And Power: Violence, Inequality, And Social Control Among Ancestral Pueblo Populations (Ad 850-1300), Ryan Patrick Harrod

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Analysis of human remains in the Greater Southwest offers important insights into mechanisms underlying cultural processes, human adaptability as well as behavioral flexibility and resilience in the face of change. Data collected from human remains from several sites throughout the Four Corners region of the Greater Southwest provides information on the ways that violence and social inequality were used to maintain a regional complex between AD 850 to AD 1300. Human remains were used to provide empirical data on biological (age, sex, stature, and robusticity) and cultural (mortuary context, burial practice, and site layout) identity. Skeletal remains provided information on …

An Examination Of Chipped Stone From Two Middle Holocene Archaeological Sites In The East Central Great Plains, Christine A. Nycz

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

This study examines aspects of movement and mobility of hunter-gatherer groups in the east central Great Plains during the Middle Holocene, between 8500 cal and 5000 cal B.P. Few published reports detail archaeological assemblages or address features of prehistoric mobility in this subregion of the Great Plains. Current research on the Great Plains emphasizes bison procurement and low regional bison mobility. This thesis presents interpretations of hunter-gatherer mobility based on examination of chipped stone assemblages from two Middle Holocene archaeological deposits (the Hill and Simonsen sites) in western Iowa. The resulting analysis demonstrates restricted hunter-gatherer mobility within this subregion, with …

Investigations At The Fort St. Joseph Archeological Project Unit N25 W9, Erika Mammen

Honors Theses

The Western Michigan University Archaeological Field School is a program that allows students with an interest in Anthropology or History an opportunity to participate in a learning community devoted to the practice of archaeology. Since 2002 the field school has been held regularly at the site of historic Fort St. Joseph (20BE23). During the summer field season of 2011 I was a student archaeologist at Fort St. Joseph. For my honor’s thesis I am presenting a summary of my field experience and a discussion of my findings.

The purpose of this thesis is twofold. First, I aim to provide future …

Issue 62, Spring 2013, Society Of Bead Researchers

The Bead Forum: Newsletter of the Society of Bead Researchers

Seed Beads from a Shipwreck: More Than Pretty Trinkets: Part II in a series of II articles, by Lisa Hopwood.

Fort St. Joseph Post - Spring 2013, Department Of Anthropology

Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project

Vol 4. No. 1 Table of Contents:

• Greetings from the Director!
• The 2012 Field Season: Exploring Structures and Exciting Finds!
• The Work Starts When We Leave the Field: News from the 2012-2013 Lab Students
• A Public Presence: Conferences Attended by Members of the Project
• New Film Released: Militia Muster at Fort St. Joseph
• Reenactor Perspectives at Fort St. Joseph
• Alumni News
• Geophysical Survey: Exploring the Unknown Space
• Recent and Upcoming Events and Activities
• Fifth Annual Summer Archaeology Lecture Series
• 2013 Fort St. Joseph Archaeology Summer Camp
• 2013 Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Open House

New Hampshire College's World War I Training Camp: An Archaeological Investigation, Jillian M. Price

Honors Theses and Capstones

In May 1918, New Hampshire College received the first of five detachments of World War I draftees to their newly-established training camp. Under a War Department program that converted colleges to vocational training centers, these men trained as army carpenters, engineers, electricians, and mechanics. During their stay on campus, these men built two barracks to serve as their own housing. In the summer of 2012, and archaeological investigation uncovered the remains of these barracks, recovering architectural materials and evidence of soldiers' leisure activities. This paper discusses the history of the vocational training camp program, analyzes its impact on local communities …

Experimentation In Sling Weaponry: Effectiveness Of And Archaeological Implications For A World-Wide Primitive Technology, Eric T. Skov

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

The sling is a simple, cheap and effective weapon that was widely distributed among prehistoric and historic populations. Well-known archaeological and textual evidence attests to its widespread military usage in Europe, South America, andCentral America. However, ethnographic and archaeological evidence also suggest that the sling was widely distributed among Native American populations. Experimentation presented herein suggests that previous scholarship and experimental efforts have significantly underestimated potential velocity, range and potential damage to target organisms. Given the world-wide distribution of sling technology, revision of basic assumptions of weapon capability can have a profound effect on interpretation of archaeological problems internationally and …

The Age Of Consumption: A Study Of Consumer (And Producer) Behavior And The Household, Stephen A. Damm

Masters Theses

While anthropologists have often emphasized the importance of factors such as the household's age, lifecycle, and kinship within the context of the wider community, archaeologists have paid less attention to these factors. Using data from the excavations of eighteen farms in the Finger Lakes National Forest, occupied from the 19th century into the 1930s, I examine how household age influenced the consumer choices made by a sample of households and how aspects of production and consumption were prioritized within this context. By examining broad patterns in the archaeological and historic data, an age-based analysis as a young/old categorization is juxtaposed …